I have a year and a month old german shepherd male, and I love to take him to our dog park.

At the dog park, he's happy and playful and plays nicely with all the other dogs (I've taken him there since he was ~4 months), but lately, just about every time he singles out a dog out there and chases them around for ~20 minutes and humps him/her at any opportunity.

He's not violent, he doesn't snarl or bite or act aggressively, he'll just mount them and hump if they don't move, which most of them do before long. And if they're running around, he'll just chase them with "that" look in his eye.

It hasn't really been a problem, it's just a bit embarrassing, and I'm sure the other dog parents don't terribly appreciate it. He is still intact, which I'm sure is part of the problem, but I'm wondering if there's a good way to discourage this behavior (especially because it's hard to keep up with him in the park).

I also fear him getting a bitch pregnant, and though the park says it doesn't allow females in heat, I'm sure that won't / doesn't stop people. However, whenever he gets humpy, I check to see if it's female (usually not), and if so, I ask to see if they're fixed and the answer has always been yes.

Is this just a thing dogs his age do, especially intact ones? i've seen many dogs get a bit humpy at the park (even females), but I have to admit that he's worse than most.

If not, is there a way to prevent or correct this behavior? Again, it's difficult to keep this behavior in check, because it's hard to keep him within arm's reach at all times, which is pretty much the point of going there in the first place - to go and let him run and play with his own kind.

Come to think of it, there's a very large off-leash park in part of a state park that I take him to sometimes, and he almost never gets humpy there. It's much, MUCH larger, though. Not sure if that makes any difference.

If you're noticing the "look in his eye" when he's chasing a dog. Stop it. Stop the chasing right there. Get him on leash, give a correction, wait for him to calm down, and then let him go again. If he gets back to chasing, repeat.

I do not let my boy chase other dogs for anything more than a minute. It tends to not end well because at some point either the dog gets freaked out or their owner does. The way your dog is currently acting, will not end well for your dog. This is a HUGE problem. To put it lightly...if your dog acted this way towards my dog, you wouldn't have time to pull him off or tell him to get off before you'll be trying to pull my dog off of your dog.

This isn't sexual humping, its dominance. And since you're good enough to notice the "look in his eye" you'll easily be able to tell when he reacts to a female in heat. More than likely, you haven't seen it happen as at that point its highly likely that nothing will get through his skull.

Again, stop allowing him to chase dogs for that long, and do not ever allow him to hump other dogs. You should always be close enough, or have enough verbal control over your dog to prevent him from dominating other animals.

I have a 1.5 year old intact male. He doesn't hump anything. The first time I ever caught him trying to hump my older dog, I scared the living daylights out of him, and well he paired that with humping cause he just doesn't do it.

I dont do dog parks, so I don't know how to go about that, but i'd have a long line on him to start and correct him every time he tries it.

Yes is a dominant act. I once caught my female GSD humping our cat! I think you are very aware of your dog and recognise the signs of intended humping so you'll just have to be vigilant and distract/stop the behaviour, if you can, before it starts. Also agree with martemchik about the chasing, I would distract him here. You might want to try giving him a job to do when in the dog park so that he does not focus too much on dominating the other dogs, the job could be wearing a backpack and walking around and around the dog park - keep moving.

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if your GSD is eating and eating and eating and losing weight - please consider testing for EPI.

If you're noticing the "look in his eye" when he's chasing a dog. Stop it. Stop the chasing right there. Get him on leash, give a correction, wait for him to calm down, and then let him go again. If he gets back to chasing, repeat.

I do not let my boy chase other dogs for anything more than a minute. It tends to not end well because at some point either the dog gets freaked out or their owner does. The way your dog is currently acting, will not end well for your dog. This is a HUGE problem. To put it lightly...if your dog acted this way towards my dog, you wouldn't have time to pull him off or tell him to get off before you'll be trying to pull my dog off of your dog.

This isn't sexual humping, its dominance. And since you're good enough to notice the "look in his eye" you'll easily be able to tell when he reacts to a female in heat. More than likely, you haven't seen it happen as at that point its highly likely that nothing will get through his skull.

Again, stop allowing him to chase dogs for that long, and do not ever allow him to hump other dogs. You should always be close enough, or have enough verbal control over your dog to prevent him from dominating other animals.

This post is all so correct! This is a dominance move, and since YOU are alpha, YOU have the right to correct it and STOP it, if you have to pick him up by the scruff of his neck and pull him off. I am not a fan of dog parks, they can be a hotbed of bad canine behavior--if not your canine, then someone else's. Believe me, if he came at my dog that way, you'd have to pick him up from the ground. Better YOU correct him than an irate dog owner, which is what I would be.

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